India Microfinance

Cloud Computing and Financial Services for The Poor – Webinar

A Mobile Financial Services Seminar titled Cloud Computing and Financial Services for The Poor : Promise and Perils of a New Computing Paradigm is being organised in Washington, DC September 16, 2011 – 9:00am – 10:30am. You can attend the event or the Webinar by registering at the link here. The speakers for the event will be Bryan Barnett, an independent consultant and Maria Stephens of USAID (United States Agency for International Development).

Cloud Computing and Financial Services for The Poor Seminar

Seminar Description

The emergence of the “cloud” is perhaps the most significant transformation of computing since the arrival of the Internet itself. Cloud computing is shaking up mobile financial services value chains and changing business models with astonishing speed. Yet this phenomenon is not well understood by many who are confronted with important business or policy decisions related to the direct or indirect support of mobile financial services utilizing cloud components. Financial services for the poor, including both microfinance and so-called ‘mobile money’ services are starting to rely on cloud-based solutions.

These emerging models offer an important illustration of both the benefits and risks of incorporating cloud-based solutions into the mobile financial services ecosystem. This presentation aims to explain the essence of cloud computing in non-technical terms and will explore some of the important issues to be considered in adopting cloud-based solutions using current examples from microfinance and mobile money. In addition, the presentation aims to link these issues to broader internal control and other systemic issues raised in the USAID-Booz Allen Mobile Financial Services Risk Matrix, and to broader financial inclusion objectives.